The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition, is an

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Victorian politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

(the latter previously known as the Country Party and the United Country Party). The Coalition's main opponent is the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP), which has been the dominant political party in Victoria since the 1999 state election. The Coalition last governed Victoria between 2010 and 2014, and as of 2025, it serves as the opposition with

Brad Battin Bradley William Battin (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian politician who has served as the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party since 27 December 2024, and as member for Berwick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2022. He was ...

as Liberal leader and Danny O'Brien as Nationals leader.

History

Origins and UAP–UCP coalitions

The Victorian Country Party was formed on 23 September 1930 as the United Country Party (UCP) following a merger between the original Country Party (linked to the

Victorian Farmers' Union The Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) was an association of farmers and primary producers formed in 1914 in the Australian state of Victoria. Although initially formed as an "absolutely non-political" entity, the VFU became a political party in 19 ...

) and the Country Progressive Party. The other major non-Labor party at the time, the Nationalist Party, was renamed to the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

(UAP) on 15 September 1931. At the 1932 state election, the UAP won 31 seats, just shy of the 33 needed for a majority. Following the election, the UAP formed a coalition with the UCP, with several UCP MPs serving in the ministry. UAP leader Sir Stanley Argyle was sworn in as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

, replacing Labor's

Edmond Hogan Edmond John "Ned" Hogan (12 December 1883 – 23 August 1964) was an Australian politician who was the 30th Premier of Victoria. He was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers. After attending a Roman Cathol ...

. At a meeting of the UCP's Central Council and its parliamentary members on 19 March 1935, the sudden decision was taken to end the coalition after Argyle refused to give the UCP additional ministerial portfolios. Argyle was forced to form a new ministry composed entirely of UAP members, accusing the UCP of double-crossing and betraying the UAP. The UCP served in government, led by

Albert Dunstan Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG (26 July 1882 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian politician who served as the 33rd premier of Victoria from 1935 to 1943 and from 1943 to 1945 and as the third deputy premier of Victoria for five days in ...

, beginning on 2 April 1935 after the Argyle government was defeated in parliament. The UAP was reduced to 13 seats after the 1943 state election. Labor gave the UCP support until following the 1943 state election, when the UAP gave supply. In September 1943, the Dunstan government was briefly defeated and Labor leader

John Cain John Cain may refer to: * John Cain (34th Premier of Victoria) (1882–1957), Australian politician * John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) (1931–2019), Australian politician, son of the above ** John Cain Arena, sports arena in Melbourne, Austral ...

sworn in as premier, but Dunstan soon returned days after the UCP formed a coalition government with the UAP.

LCP formation and continued split

The Victorian UAP branch and its parliamentary members joined the newly-formed

on 5 March 1945, with the state parliamentary UAP becoming the state parliamentary Liberal Party, prior to the national UAP being absorbed into the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

in October 1945. The 1947 state election resulted in the Liberal–Country coalition winning a substantial majority of 47 seats, with Liberal leader

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lea ...

becoming Premier and Country leader John McDonald becoming Deputy Premier. This arrangement existed until 3 December 1948, when the Country ministers resigned and returned to sitting in opposition. In March 1949, the Liberal Party formed a new

Liberal and Country Party The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in ...

(LCP) as part of an attempt to unite both parties. Six Country MPs joined the LCP, but the Country Party rejected the idea, claiming it was an attempt to eliminate the party from Victorian politics.

Coalition return

The LCP (renamed to the

in 1964) and the Country Party (renamed to the

in 1975) continued contesting elections separately for around 40 years. This was until 1990, when the parties agreed to establish a formal coalition. Under the leadership of Liberal leader

Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...

, the Coalition defeated Labor in the 1992 state election and again in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Following the Labor Party's win at the Frankston East state supplementary election, which meant they would win the 1999 state election, Pat McNamara resigned as Nationals leader. Peter Ryan was elected as the new leader, and announced he would dissolve the Coalition, re-establishing the Nationals as a standalone party on the

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

. After suffering election losses to Labor in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, the Liberals and Nationals re-established their alliance on 12 February 2008. The Coalition won the 2010 state election but lost office after a single term in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Following further state election losses in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' reported that some Nationals MPs were prepared to push for the end of the Coalition, although this did not eventuate.

Notes

References

{{United Australia Party Political party alliances in Australia Politics of Victoria (state) Liberal Party of Australia National Party of Australia United Australia Party 1932 establishments in Australia 1943 establishments in Australia 1990 establishments in Australia 2008 establishments in Australia 1935 disestablishments in Australia 1948 disestablishments in Australia 1999 disestablishments in Australia